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Tetsubo 57
2010-02-23, 12:29 PM
I did a review of the 3.5 book Races of Destiny today. Which has me thinking of the Illumians. I was rather unimpressed by this race. It just seemed to fall flat. The idea of a race of humans with glowing letters floating around their heads seems kind of silly. Has anyone ever built a really good Illumian character? Are they actually useful for any particular builds?

DragoonWraith
2010-02-23, 12:32 PM
Illumians are one of the better races, actually. The Krau sigil is excellent.

Kosjsjach
2010-02-23, 01:21 PM
I know this won't earn me any points with the optimization community, but Illumians make terrific Mystic Theurges (early entry with the Improved Sigil (Krau) feat, and no CL loss (though you do incur a loss of spells known)).

The Krau sigil is what makes Illumians great multiclassers with casters. By level 2, your CL is boosted by 2 (not exceeding your HD), so it functions as a half-strength Practiced Spellcaster feat.

I find they make extremely flavorful characters, and the sigil combinations offer all sorts of weird tricks.

Optimystik
2010-02-23, 01:25 PM
Quite simply, they are the kings of multiclassing. What other race lets you flex your muscles for bonus spells? None, that's who.

Ernir
2010-02-23, 01:39 PM
They have a few niche uses, their sigils give access to quite a few unique/rare tricks. Like, as mentioned, getting more spells by being good at flexing. :smalltongue:

If you don't have the ability to take good advantage of the sigils... they're pretty weak.

Biffoniacus_Furiou
2010-02-23, 01:59 PM
An Illumian can go Beguiler 1/ Wizard 4/ Ultimate Magus 10 and add 10/10 UM spellcasting to Wizard. Without Krau, you're only able to add 9/10 with just Practiced Spellcaster.

An Illumian Cleric can use Hoonvaul and get a bonus on Concentration checks and Turning checks, as well as being able to expend a spell slot to gain an additional bonus on turning.

Naenhoon is like Divine Metamagic but it's not limited to divine spells. This allows for example the standard Sorcerer/Paladin gish build to put its Sacred Exorcist turning to better use. A Dread Necromancer could also find this ability quite useful.

The Illumian racial abilities aren't necessarily powerful, but in the proper situation they can make an already strong build that much better.

Magnor Criol
2010-02-23, 02:01 PM
I've built a single-class Illumian wizard who's obsessed with reading and language of all sorts. He's got the sigil that improves his Int bonus and the one that improves his Con and Wis bonus. At level 17, he speaks fifteen languages, gets insane bonuses to all skills based off mental stats, and even his level 0 spells have a DC over 20. He's also a mental supremacist - he looks down on anyone with less intelligence than him...which is basically everyone. :smalltongue:

Kinda swerves from the base idea of a race for multiclassing, but it maxes out the theme of a race focused on language, and he's hella fun to play.

Keld Denar
2010-02-23, 02:10 PM
Aeshkrau is also good for a gish who focuses primarily on buff spells. You can be lax on your Cha or Int, and instead pump Str. Notable in many Suel Arcanamach builds.

LichPrinceAlim
2010-02-23, 02:41 PM
I also see a "True Bookworm" build without Ur Priest Cheese....

Race: Illumian
Class: Archivist 1/Wizard 4/Mystic Theurge 10

tho i do like the Beguiler/Wizard/Ultimate Magus one.

The Random NPC
2010-02-23, 04:38 PM
They're also one of the better races for Truenamers...

RagnaroksChosen
2010-02-23, 04:40 PM
aren't they also a nock off of the dabus?

hamishspence
2010-02-23, 04:43 PM
Dabus still exist in 3.5 (Expedition to the Demonweb Pits has them)

They aren't really similar- they don't have runes floating around their heads, for one thing.

RagnaroksChosen
2010-02-23, 04:46 PM
Dabus still exist in 3.5 (Expedition to the Demonweb Pits has them)

They aren't really similar- they don't have runes floating around their heads, for one thing.

Ill have to go look for that book. I didn't know they had 3.5 stats for them